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SOCIALINNOVATIONa travel guide
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2
All revenue generated by this book will be used to promote initia-
tives that are socially innovative or aim to create social innovation.
To view a copy of this license, visit:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite
300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
Except pictures of Dave Eggers and Muhammad Yunus which is li-
censed under GNU Free Documentation License
Picture page 57 Copyright 2007 David Shankbone.
Picture page 60 Copyright Muhammad Yunus.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this doc-
ument under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License,Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software
Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and
no Back-Cover Texts.
This work is licensed under the Creative
Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
Unported license.
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3
Social Innovation
a travel guideFirst edition July 2008
The Kaospilots International
Mejlgade 35
8000 Aarhus C
Denmark
www.kaospilot.dk
www.socialinnovation.biz
A publication by
Amalie Villesen, Anders Fred-
s Olsen, Anders Graae, An-
ders Toft, Anna Edwall, Bieke
van Dijk, Camilla R. Misser,
Carl Johannes Borris, Chris-
tian Stoltze, Daniel Seifter,
Fridda Flensted-Jensen,
Gregers Mrsk Mller, Hrafn-
hildur Heba Jlusdttir, HedvigHyster, Henrique Vedana,
Jacob Klintrup, Jakob Chris-
tian Ipland, Karen Steinfeld,
Kristian Meiniche, Mark Hes-
sellund Beanland, Mille Ob-
el Hier, Nana G. Dall, Nanna
Wedendahl Frank, Nicklas Pe-ter Hg, November Sky Frey-
ss-Cole, Philip Hahn-Petersen,
Pontus O. Bergqvist, Rune
Barfred, Sara Skafsgaard Hjort,
Sara Walln, Sren Bo Steen-
dahl, Thomas Gjerulff, Tone Ev-
jan and Torben Brandt.
The Kaospilots Team 13
Chief editors
Anna Edwall and Mark Hessel-
lund Beanland
Co-editors
Amalie Villesen, Carl Johan-nes Borris, Christian Stoltze,
Fridda Flensted-Jensen, Hen-
rique Vedana, November Sky
Freyss-Cole, Sara Walln and
Torben Brandt
Graphic design and layoutAnders Freds Olsen
Michelle Kertevig and
Philip Hahn-Petersen
Photographers
Anders Freds Olsen, Camilla
R. Misser, Jacob Klintrup, No-
vember Sky Freyss-Cole, Philip
Hahn-Petersen and Sren Bo
Steendahl, Daniel Seifter
Illustrators
Anders Freds Olsen, NannaWedendahl Frank, Nicklas Pe-
ter Hg and Philip Hahn-Pe-
tersen
We would like to thank
Birgitte Freds Rasmussen,
Christer Lidzlius, DeborahGolblatt, Frederik B. Wulff, Ka-
rin Barreth, Per Krull, Peter
Liljeros, Simon Kavanagh, Fan-
ny Posselt, Solveig Brun, Su-
sanne Hjlund, Tania Ellis and
Thomas Hessellund Nielsen
A special thanks to Michelle
Kertevig for giving us her lay-
out expertise, time, and ded-
ication.
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Introduction 6Preface 6
Starting point 8
Before take off 10
Innovation and
social needs? 14
The story of SocialInnovation 16
On route to your destination18
The Map of SI 20
Sectors 22
The Landscape 28
Corporate Social
Responsibility 30
Corporate Social Innovation 34
Public Innovation 35
Socially Responsible
Investing 37Social Purpose Ventures 38
Is it the why or the
what that maters 40
Non-Governmental
Organizations 42
Social Entrepreneurship 44
Social Intrapreneurship 47Before moving on 48
Famous Travellers 50
Table of doers 52
Muhammad Yunus 56
Dave Eggers 58
Marie So and Carol Chyau 62Jimmy Donal "Jimbo" Wales 64
Natalie Killassy 66
Movement 68Shedding light on social
innovation 70
SI in action 72
Social Innovation
in Action 72
Starting with me 74Mapping out me 76
Understanding the cultural
context 78
The Need 82
The need and the dream 84
Target Group 86
Team and Resources 88
The Project 90
The Story 94
Bon voyage 96
Glossary98
Sources 102
Index
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Introduction
Preface
This book was conceived on a trip made by 34 students from the Ka-osPilots International in the spring of 2008. These 34 students, rep-
resenting seven nationalities, travelled to the other side of the world
with the purpose to explore the meaning of the term social innova-
tion. After three months, these same students returned home to
document their learnings in this book.
Though Shanghai was our port social innovation was what we as-
pired towards, digging it out of the concrete and steel of the hec-tic city. Only after returning home with the creation of this book did
we nd it. We found it through the sharing of knowledge that took
place while we were working on the book and through the overview
provided through the process of translating our ndings into words.
This is why the book you are about to read is in the format of a trav-
el guide. It is our hope that it will make the journey into the abstract
realm of social innovation easier for the travellers that follow in our
footsteps, and that it will guide the traveller past dead ends of inac-
tion in the labyrinthine jungle of theory where so many are lost, and
into action; the place where we have come to believe social innova-
tion reveals its true value.
Our travels showed us that to embark on social innovation you
need to embrace disorientation at rst. Everywhere you look yound opposing views on what the term means and what it encom-
passes. To us this confusion sparked both a need and an ambition:
to bring social innovation out of the clouds and down to earth. It
has not been our purpose to show the frustrations we went through
on our path though there were many but through our ndings to
make it easier for coming travellers to navigate. Most important-
ly, we felt a need to make the concept tangible to a reader in or-der to create a foundation for action. We are giving you as a reader
the knowledge we would have liked to have had when we set off on
our journey; how to be able to take action with a social purpose and
spark innovations on your way.
We have attempted to cut the path through the jungle bed. It is
our hope that you will be inspired to walk it. Please forgive us any
bushy parts you come across. As with any jungle, the shroud and veg-etation grows back in new ways on a daily basis and our method of
cutting the bush might leave areas unexplored.
Some of you may enjoy reading this book without wishing to em-
bark on the journey like someone who enjoys browsing the pages
of a travel catalogue. You are welcome readers. However, our intent
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7INTRODUCTION
was to write this as a guide to those of you who have a desire to go fora swing in the vines yourselves.
Change is the only constant in the world and we hope that this
book can help to unleash your potential and to guide this change in
a positive direction.
Finally, as you start to read, please keep in mind that the 34 trav-
ellers who set off on this journey have also shared the task of writing
about their experiences. Sometimes when some saw a lion otherswere sure they saw a kangaroo. Evidence of this phenomenon will
be present as you scroll through the pages of this book. Please, we
encourage you not to despair in the face of this diversity. At least,
we have come to rest in the fact that our confusion around social in-
novation seems simply to reect that of the world.
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8 INTRODUCTION
Starting Point
You are about to read about a realm that you may or may not al-ready know about and as with any travel guide you can go through
it in the way that best ts your preferences. You can start at the end
and backtrack, look up sections that relate to your personal inter-
ests or read it cover to cover.
These compiled contents should give you somewhat of an over-
view. But within the book you will also nd references to experts
working more in-depth with the term. This is a starting point to digfurther or to step directly into action. Our hope is that you do both.
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9INTRODUCTION
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Before take off
Are You Curious about Social Innovation?
This section of the travel guide will get you ready to explore.
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11BEFORE TAKE OFF
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12 BEFORE TAKE OFF
Soc
iali
nnov
atio
nin
thefuture?
Letsfirste
xplore
whats
ociali
nnovat
ion(S
I)isin
thepresen
t.
Whatissocialinnovationcomposedof?Whycombinesocialwithinnovation?
Whatissocialinn
ovation?
Below we have outlined the components of social innovation to an-
swer these questions. This is the foundation on which the book isbuilt.
As illustrated on the following page there are many views on the
words within as well as the concept of social innovation. In this book
we will not highlight a specic denition as more relevant or bet-
ter than others. The bright minds that have created denitions be-
fore us have done a good job and we have found inspiration in allof them. We encourage you to do the same. What we found lack-
ing, however, was a way to bridge them. In our perception, for it to
best serve its purpose to improve the conditions for life one must
seek to create it at every turn of the road. It is our goal to make you
feel that this is not such an amazing task but something we can all
contribute to, rst and foremost by trying.
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13BEFORE TAKE OFF
People using new knowledge to
experiment with new possibilities in order
to implement new concepts that create
new value.
(www.businessweek.com)
New strategies, concepts, ideas in
organisaions that meet social needs.It can be used to refer to social processes
of innovation, alternatively to desribe
innovations which have a social purpose.
(wikipedia)
The act of starting something for the first
time; introducing something new.
(www.thinksmart.typepad.com)
New ideas that work to meet pressing
unmet needs and improve peoples lives.
(The Young Foundation)
New ideas that resolve existing
challenges for the benefit of
people and planet.
(Center for social innovation)
Social is relating to human society and itsmembers.
(www.wordreference.com
Of or relating to society or its organisation.
(Oxford American dictionary)
Social + Innovation
Social Innovation
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14 BEFORE TAKE OFF
Innovation and Social Needs?
Looking at society as a whole, solving a need sometimes involvesshifting limited resources from one area to another. This is often an
unsustainable short-term solution satisfying pressing needs but as
new needs arise old ones are likely to remain; hence, we need to
take hold of the root of the problems causing these needs.
Einstein once said, No problem can be solved from the same
level of consciousness that created it1. This involves embodying
the knowledge that has evolved in society and applying it in thecreation of new solutions of social innovations. Innovations tar-
geted to meet social needs aim to permanently alter the percep-
tions, behaviours and structures that previously gave rise to these
challenges2. Simply put, social innovations aim to obtain the tri-
ple bottom line (measured on the satisfaction of both people, planet
and prot) and be an idea that works for the public good3.
The more new concepts, thoughts, and actions that take place
on a local and global level, the more innovations will occur and
spark possibilities for socially innovative solutions.
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15BEFORE TAKE OFF
Profit
Planet
People
THE TRIPLE BOTTOMLINE
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16 BEFORE TAKE OFF
The Story of Social Innovation
Though social innovation has occured throughout the history ofmankind, there has not been enough interest to trigger the map-
ping out of the occurrence of social innovation or how the phrase
has evolved in modern times. Our offset was that though social in-
novations are not new to the world, an increased amount of people,
institutions, and companies around the world are starting to look for
ways to become more sustainable towards the environment and/
or their stakeholders. Without knowing it, these initiatives that ariseunder titles like social entrepreneurship, user-driven innovation or
corporate social responsibility are in truth aiming towards creating
social innovation.
Understanding the concept of SI and actively using the term can
give social action and contribution more power. It can help create a
larger awareness in society around imbalances and challenges that
need to be dealt with and it can work as a trigger for more people to
strive for creating positive change.
In order to further understand what SI can be see the outline of
past innovations on the next page.
They are listed according to:
*Innovation*Time of origin
*Initial place of origin
In order for it to be socially innovative rather than merely innovative
it needs to answer a need or create new value in society so we en-
courage you to think about the need, if any, these innovations re-
spond to.
Which of these things do you take for granted in your everyday life?
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17BEFORE TAKE OFF
Past innovations
1406
1680
1840
1860
1870
1948
1969
1976
1983
1983
Bank, Genova, Italy
Insurance, London, UK
Kindergarten, Germany
Subway, London, UK
Welfare State, Germany
National Health Service, UK
The Open University, UK
Grameen Bank, Bangladesh
Cell Phone, USA
Internet, USA
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18 BEFORE TAKE OFF
On Route to Your Destination
Now that you have packed your bags we would like to forward someof our learning from the land of SI to you. They are excerpts from our
own experiences and the conclusions we drew from them.
It is important to understand the context from which the need
emerges before you address it.
Some aspects relating to this
As human beings we stand on a platform composed of opinions
and perceived truths. We bring this with us wherever we go. When
working with SI in a context outside of our own it can be fruitful to re-
ect on our own platform and what we bring into the new context
our worldview, assumptions, prejudices, and frames of reference.
We cannot impose our worldview onto others. We can, however,
indulge in theirs. This boils down to one thing: Engage in dialoguewith the experts the locals and explore their perspectives. The
common mistake made when meeting another perspective than
your own is to engage in a discussion to attempt to persuade the
counterpart that your viewpoint is more valid. This approach only
leaves room for one winner. The object of a dialogue is to increase
the understanding on both sides. This way everyone can learn from
the outcome and knowledge and understanding can be co-devel-oped and lifted to another level.
People become aware of their culture when they stand at its
boundaries; when they encounter other cultures, or when they be-
come aware of other ways of doing things4
Anthony P. Cohen
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19BEFORE TAKE OFF
There are different social needs in different places and there are dif-ferent demands in different places; hence, different innovative ac-
tions.
Social innovation is context related and it is important
to understand the context from which the need
emerges before you address it.
In doing this, some of the clouds we en-
courage you to grab are...
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Take a close look at the map and try
to get acquainted with the different
areas. In the following chapter we
will try to give you as much gener-
al insight as possible into the differ-
ent sectors within our society as well
as the landscape of social innovationwith all its different areas, branches,
and strange hybrids.
The Map of SI
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21THE MAP OF SI
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22
22 THE MAP OF SI
Sectors
Three sectors dominate most societies. The public sector, the pri-vate sector, and the civil sector. Due to changes in society and the
arrival of new social needs, a new sector or more accurately a
number of alternative practices has emerged as a kind of cross sec-
tor between the already existing sectors. A common term for this
phenomenon is the fourth sector.
The Public SectorThe role and responsibilities of the public sector varies greatly from
country to country based on the community it represents and the
values of the respective governmental institutions it consists of.
Its responsibilities can span areas such as the development and
maintenance of infrastructure, providing of education, healthcare
and eldercare, and the creation of laws and legislation. The income
comes from taxes paid by individuals, the private sector, and often
from publicly owned companies.
The Private Sector
The role of the private sector as a whole could be viewed as the
responsibility to ensure economic growth in society as well as to
provide jobs and the production of goods and commodities. Theprivate sector is based on the freedom to engage in commercial ac-
tivities and trade and it is inuenced by supply and demand in so-
ciety.
The Civil Sector
Traditionally, the civil sector relies on volunteer work and on do-
nations from the private sector as well as contributions from indi-vidual people who believe the cause to be worthwhile. These or-
ganizations are known as non-governmental organizations (NGO),
non-prot organizations (NPO) or voluntary organizations.
Initiatives in the civil sector are based on several different foun-
dations, the most usual being dissatisfaction with the actions of the
private or the public sector (Green Peace is an example of this) or
simply a shared passion for a specic activity (e.g. a sailing club).Their overall role and responsibility can be seen as that of defend-
ing the rights of the civil society. Read more about this in the section
Non-governmental organizations in the Landscape on page 40.
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23THE MAP OF SI
Privatesector
Publicsector
The 4thsector
CivilsectorPrivatesector
Publicsector
The 4thsector
Civilsector
The HybridNo sectors on their own have managed to encompass the com-
plete foundations of a society. With societies around the world un-
dergoing constant change the cross- or fourth sector can be viewed
as all the initiatives that arise outside the confounds of the tradition-
al sectors to address needs and issues that are not covered by the
three sectors or could be covered in a more effective way. The last
15 years, especially, have seen the emergence of new business ar-eas and of organizations that work across the sectors. Such organ-
izations within the fourth sector are numerous and the sheer quanti-
ty of names given to them gives an impression of their scope. They
include; high purpose companies; double bottom line businesses;
afrmative businesses; values driven enterprises; for-benet organ-
izations; civic entrepreneurs; social purpose ventures; socially re-
sponsible businesses; sustainable businesses, social enterprises,
and social entrepreneurialism (see more under Social Entrepre-
neurs in the section the Landscape on page 42).
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24 THE MAP OF IS
The Connection to Social InnovationIt is important to know that the dened responsibilities of the three
sectors vary from country to country. In the US, for example, the pri-
vate and the civil sectors have a large inuence on social initiatives
compared to many European countries where social responsibilities
traditionally lie within the public and civil sectors. In China, social in-
itiatives are ofcially considered a responsibility of the government
only and many civil initiatives related to social issues are classiedas illegal.
On top of the variations in political systems and traditions for gov-
erning, the sectors are also blurred as private companies focus
more and more on social issues, NGOs start working more towards
generating their own prot, and public institutions start co-operat-
ing with volunteer work and management models inspired by pri-
vate companies.
Social innovation can happen within or across the sectors. In fact,
SI does not seem to care about sectors but about ideas, the use of
knowledge, networks, and competences.
Change?
As food for thought we note that China is experimenting with waysof governing that all stem from a one-party system. And that with-
in this system certain provinces are encouraged to try out new ways
of governing that break with traditional thinking. In the words of the
British foreign policy thinker and author Mark Leonard, the leftist po-
litical thinkers in the Chinese communist party believe in a philos-
ophy of perpetual innovation developing new kinds of companies
and social institutions that marry competition and co-operation5
.What few people outside China care to consider is that examples
like this one, of willingness to experiment along with the inherent na-
ture of social innovation, of changing the way we work and think,
may make many of our current denitions obsolete.
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25THE MAP OF IS
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26 THE MAP OF IS
Travelling Together
A way to work with social challenges is to use the competencies of
all three sectors: Public (Governments), Private (Businesses) and
Civil (NGO/NPO) in order to see perspectives and business models
that can solve our current and future social challenges and unmet
needs. In Northern America and Europe there is a lot of talk about
cross sector collaboration and initiatives. However, many of the so-cially innovative projects are not based on a strong collaboration
and we see a potential for this collaboration and shift in mindset to
grow to new heights and become more beneciary for all parties.
NGO
NGOs have the knowledge of social needs and the voluntary la-
bour force, engaged and committed to act on it but they often lackthe money to carry out their ideas and make them sustainable.
Business
Businesses have the money and the experience within commerce
to carry out large projects and ideas but they often lack knowl-
edge, motivation, and experience within the social needs of socie-ty to act on it.
Governments
Governments have the overview of the needs and challenges of the
entire country and they provide stability and a long-term perspec-
tive. However, they often lack efciency, employee ownership, and
the ability to make money.
Challenges of Travelling Together
When talking about SI, companies, NGOs, and the public sec-
tors very often move within a grey area where the responsibilities of
business and civil society blur. We see new ways of thinking about
the relationships and partnerships between the sectors as impor-
tant. It is not about businesses handing a check to an NGO or thepublic sector economically supporting business. It is about getting
the three parties to sit down together at the table and strategically
shape projects, specic products, or wider processes.
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27
Dong TanAn example of a cross-sector project is the Chinese eco-vil-
lage Dong Tan which is placed on Chong Ming Island near
Shanghai and planned to be one of the rst fully sustainable
cities in the world along with two other eco-cities in China.
Dong Tan is planned by the Shanghai City Council as part of
the Carbon Neutral Urban Development Plan where Dong Tan
is meant to be a counterweight to the less sustainable Shang-
hai and at the same time reveal China as a player in the eld of
sustainability.
The Chinese government decided to hire Arup, a British
company that specialises in green urban planning, to provide
the necessary knowledge for the creation of Dong Tan. AlsoWilliam McDonough and Michael Braungart, the authors of
the groundbreaking book on sustainability Cradle to Cradle6,
have been hired to help designing Chinas coming eco-cities.
Dong Tan is an example of how the public sector in one
country uses the knowledge from a company from the
private sector in another country to create something new that
will benet society and the environment.
THE MAP OF SI
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The Landscape
You will come across many terms when you move around in theland of social innovation and without proper guidance these may
be difcult to distinguish from one another. You can use the glossa-
ry in the back of this book to assist you on your way but the list be-
low further explains some of the most important of these terms and
can be used as a work of reference. All the different areas do not
have to be explored fully before you start your journey but we be-
lieve that you will nd the descriptions useful as your desire to digdeeper evolves.
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29THE LANDSCAPE
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30 THE LANDSCAPE
Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporate Social Responsibility, or CSR, is a concept wherebycompanies integrate social and environmental concerns in their
business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders
on a voluntary basis7 the stakeholders being those who are im-
pacted positively or negatively by their activities.
Some background information is necessary in order to understand
the term:It is often argued that for some companies the motivation for en-
gaging in CSR stems from marketing concerns and is applied as
make-up with little genuine impact on the business. This debate
about sincerity or the lack of it comes from the denition and pur-
pose of business. While some argue that the business of business
is business8, i.e. maximizing prot, others have a broader under-
standing that includes a concern for the business environmental
and social footprint. With businesses having grown in importance
and inuence over the last 200 years, now representing more than
half of the worlds biggest nancial powers9, they become key driv-
ers for change - positive or negative. Regardless of the critics, cor-
porate refers to business where money is a key measure for recog-
nition and growth.Any criticism can be generalized and in order to avoid that we see
a need to differentiate between three levels of CSR10.
First level: Corporate philanthropy
Companies give back to communities, charities, and non-govern-
mental organizations and develop internal projects that aim to sup-
port people in less privileged positions. Some companies involvetheir employees in such projects in exchange for their motivation
and commitment (corporate volunteerism).
Second level: Risk management / reputation
As a response to pressure from stakeholders, non-governmental
campaigners or regulatory bodies companies may see their reputa-
tion being affected positively or negatively based on their actions (orpeople's perceptions of said actions).
Third level: Business case / value creation
This is the rst and only proactive approach where business lead-
ers see value in practicing social responsibility as an investment that
brings about nancial return in the long run despite the short term
costs.
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31THE LANDSCAPE
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32 THE LANDSCAPE
UN Global Compact -
Ten Principles
Human Rights
Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the pro-
tection of internationally proclaimed human rights.
Principle 2: Businesses should make sure that they are not
complicit in human rights abuses.
Labour Standards
Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of associ-
ation and the effective recognition of the right to collective bar-
gaining.Principle 4: Businesses should uphold the elimination of all
forms of forced and compulsory labour.
Principle 5: Businesses should uphold the effective abolition
of child labour.
Principle 6: Businesses should uphold the elimination of dis-
crimination in employment and occupation.
Environment
Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary ap-
proach to environmental challenges.
Principle 8: Businesses should undertake initiatives to pro-
mote environmental responsibility.
Principle 9: Businesses should encourage the development
and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.
Anti-Corruption
Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all
its forms, including extortion and bribery.
The Global Compact was initiated by the United Nations Sec-
retary-General Ko Annan in the year 2000. It is a voluntary
network aiming to mainstream 10 universal principals for so-
cially responsible business. Today, it includes over 3000 com-
panies from all around the world and another 1000 civil and la-
bour organizations.
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From Financial Reporting toSustainability Reporting11
Financial reporting, today a standard requirement for com-
panies to operate and be trusted by governments and share-
holders, only became mandatory after the stock exchange
crisis of 1929. The internationally recognized standards on ac-countancy were developed mainly in the 1930s. Nowadays,
the pressure from stakeholders is requesting organizations to
become more transparent in the way they manage their busi-
ness and the impact they cause on society and environment,
not only their nancial statements. Since the early 90s, many
organizations have started publishing social and environmen-
tal reports, citizenship or sustainability reports, mostly on a vol-
untary basis. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) was creat-
ed in 1999 and today its guidelines for sustainability reporting
are being used by thousands of companies, many of the larg-
est corporations in the world and are fast becoming a de fac-
to standard. The Swedish government has also mandated
state-owned companies to report in accordance to the GRIsguidelines. The International Standards Organization (ISO) is
now developing its own standards for social accountability
and both GRI and ISO are aligning themselves with other initia-
tives such as UN Millennium Development Goals and UN Glo-
bal Compact.
33THE LANDSCAPE
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34 THE LANDSCAPE
Corporate Social Innovation
Corporate social innovation, or CSI, happens when social solutionsare the core of the business. This standard covers companies that
either remade or created a company based on a social need.
These companies are the vanguard of the new business logic;
they view community needs as opportunities to develop ideas and
demonstrate business technologies, to nd and serve new mar-
kets, and to solve long-standing social problems. They focus their
efforts on inventing sophisticated solutions in close collaborationwith their stakeholders.
Handling social sector problems often forces companies to
stretch their capabilities to produce innovations that have business
as well as community payoffs. When companies approach social
needs in this way they have a stake in the problems and they treat
the effort the way they would treat any other project central to the
company's operations. They use their best people and their core
skills. This is not charity; it is a strategic business investment.12
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35THE LANDSCAPE
Public Innovation
Public innovation, or public sector innovation, concerns ways of im-proving performance and outcome through innovations within the
public sector, e.g. in healthcare, social welfare or criminal justice.
An initiative that exemplies public innovation with a social angle
can be taken from the Belgian Federal Police who hired blind peo-
ple to get more out of their wiretap recordings in criminal investiga-
tions.
The UK business school for government National School of Gov-
ernment, together with the Young Foundation and NESTA also set
up a Public Innovation Conference. The aim was to generate an
awareness of public service innovations and to discuss the role of
government in diffusing innovative practice.13 The same trio has al-
so drawn up a case study report on the subject Creating the Con-
ditions for Public Innovation in the year 2007.
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36 THE LANDSCAPE
Hip-Hop and the DanishMinistry of TaxationWhat is the most important essentials / conclusions of our
conversation?
The creative process is long...innovation takes time (contraryto the romantic vision of the lightning bolt strikes and innova-
tion happens). The creative process is based on the multitude
of micro-innovations that occur in everyday life. From the mi-
cro-innovations, a new culture grows.
The producers or creative catalysts are needed to collect or
catch the innovations and bring them into the world. The inno-
vative process requires time/patience, an open environmentwhere ideas can be safely expressed, and enough resources
to allow the innovative process to grow.
Strong leadership and recognition are basic requirements for
fertilizing the ground for innovation.
Keepin it real we deal with real people acting in the real
world.14
The text above is taken from a debate on the question What
can we learn from hip-hop keeping it real among Danish of-
cials from the Ministry of Taxation at a workshop on public sec-
tor innovation in 2007.
75
41%
25% mom5%5% moms
0.07
0.075
5
%= 7657+
=(97)
$$
# 4125% mo
25% moms0.075
=
7657
+
=(97)#
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37
Domini - Social InvestmentsThe way you invest matters. Be part of the solution15
It is stated on the website of the Domini Funds that as a share-
holder, you make a difference in the world, engaging compa-
nies on global warming, sweatshop labour, and product safety,
revitalizing distressed communities, bringing new voices to the
table and helping redening corporate Americas bottom line.
They outline their investment strategy as determined by
stakeholders such as communities, customers, ecosystems,employees, investors, and suppliers.
Domini Social Investments won the Social Capitalist Award
from Fastcompany Magazine and Monitor Group in 2008.
THE LANDSCAPE
Socially Responsible Investing
Some say that the history of Socially Responsible Investing, or SRI,goes back to the Quakers (Religious Society of Friends in the US). In
1758, the Quaker Philadelphia Yearly Meeting prohibited members
from participating in the slave trade of buying or selling humans.
One of the most articulate early adopters of SRI was John Wesley
(1703-1791), one of the founders of Methodism. Wesley's sermon
"The Use of Money" outlined his basic tenets of social investing - i.e.
not to harm your neighbour through your business practices andto avoid industries like tanning and chemical production which can
harm the health of workers.
The present view on SRI kicked off during the Vietnam War with
a picture of a girl running towards the photographer with her back
burning from the napalm that was dropped on her village. This led
to wide demonstrations against companies proting from the Viet-
nam War, and people began to be more aware of how companies
invested and made money.
As an example, pension funds are becoming increasingly aware
of the target of their investments after the exposures of several pen-
sion funds investing in the arms trade.
Another trend is found in people who are investing their mon-
ey in win-win-win projects such as environmentally friendly bonds,stocks in windmills, CO2 quotas or micro-nancing.
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38 THE LANDSCAPE
Social Purpose Ventures
If we take a deeper look into the vast ocean of social innovation wewill nd one of the more rare species called Social Purpose Ven-
tures (SPVs).
"The world today is awash with spectacularly talented, hopeful, and
creative social entrepreneurs who offer important solutions to our
social and environmental challenges. But there's a shortage of cap-
ital and support to nourish entrepreneurs' visions through the ear-ly stages. GSVC offers access to such capital, along with solid and
grounded advice and a network that reminds entrepreneurs they
are not alone in their pathological optimism."16
Global Social Venture Competition
In more tangible words:
Social refers to meeting the needs of people, prot or planet through
what you do.
Purpose is why you do it.
Venture means involving considerable risk. The risk is of course
connected to the capital involved.
In most SPVs the capital comes from philanthropists. People who
give money without any expectations of getting them back. An in-creased number of venture capitalists (VCs) seem to nd interest
within this eld. VCs invest in companies in which they see a high
potential for growth. They are a group of wealthy investors, invest-
ment banks or other nancial institutions that pool their funds to-
gether. In return for the investment the VCs usually demand a say in
the company decisions as well as a portion of the turnover.
To bottomline it: SPVs invest in social enterprises/entrepreneurs to
get their say as well and a part of the turnover.
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39THE LANDSCAPE
Profit
Social impact
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Is it the why or theReections by Daniel Seifter, TheKaosPilots International,
Team 13
In the second issue of 2008
of the newsletter CHANGE
distributed by myC4 (a plat-
form for supporting social en-terprise in Africa), a headline
read: Sometimes, it falls up-
on a generation to be great17.
Apart from the feeling of be-
ing overwhelmed with re-
sponsibility, the headline in-
spires to look more deeply
into how social innovation
can create new opportunities
to solve world problems. How
do we as representatives of
this generation meet the yet
unmet social needs?
You never change things by
ghting the existing reality. To
change something, build a new
model that makes the existing
model obsolete. 18 These words
by Buckminster Fuller open upto the phenomena of social in-
novation by inviting new initia-
tives to create social change.
Fuller, who among other oc-
cupations was a visionary au-
thor and inventor, was through-
out his life concerned with thequestion Does humanity have
a chance to survive lasting-
ly and successfully on planet
Earth, and if so, how?19
Companies and entrepreneurs
today have a more central role
in peoples individual lives aswell as the society they oper-
ate within and a question has
arisen as to whether they have
a responsibility in regard to sus-
tainability and social needs be-
cause of their strong position in
the world. Looking at the mar-ket and society as a whole, this
denitely seems to be the sit-
uation. The market is putting
higher demands on products
(environmentally-friendly, sus-
tainable solutions, fair trade
etc.) and companies in turn are
required to take more respon-
sibility on a social level (both in
regard to its employees, supply
chain, and society overall).
Professor Bradley Googins at
the Boston College, Centre ofCorporate Citizenship describes
what he calls: The 5 stages of
Corporate Citizenship20 as:
1. Compliant(Do what is expect-
ed due to laws and regulations).
2. Engaged(Working with a CSRprole to contribute).
3. Innovative (Finding new so-
lutions within their structure to
create a greater effect on social
needs).
4. Integrative (Integrating social
innovations in the corporate sys-tem).
5. Transformative (Changing the
Game. Make it a natural way of
running a business).
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what that matters?By creating a CSR prole acompany displays that it takes
some sort of social responsibil-
ity whether connected to envi-
ronmental sustainability or more
direct social needs. It brings
credibilit y and strengthens the
brand in the eyes of the marketwhich is benecial to the cus-
tomer, the company, and soci-
ety. A survey made by the con-
sultancy rm McKinsey in 2007
revealed that 95% of CEOs said
that society now has higher ex-
pectations of business taking on
public responsibilities than it did
ve years ago21. Therefore, it is
no surprise that social and envi-
ronmental issues are becoming
business drivers.
Innovative Capitalism?
At rst glance the term inno-
vative capitalism seems only
to awake associations to new
ways of making more money
but what if the new ways of in-
creasing prot, that stem from ademand in the market, result in
increased social responsibility?
The Committee Encouraging
Corporate Philanthropy (a New
York based business associ-
ation) reports that the share of
corporate giving with a stra-tegic motivation jumped from
38% in 2004 to 48% in 2006.
Also, in 2006, The Harvard
Business Review published a
paper on how, if approached in
a strategic way, CSR could be-
come part of a company's com-petitive advantage. Could these
strategic plans be an example
of such innovative capitalism?
Is it socially innovative although
the priority is prot and not so-
cial needs?
Whether the initiative comesfrom the heart (social innovation
in this text) or from the head (in-
novative capitalism according
to the above) does it matter in
the end? When a company im-
proves its social responsibili-
ty as a part of a strategic plan
to increase their turnover, it still
improves society. A company
which produces more sustaina-
ble and environmentally friend-
ly products due to market de-
mands might boost its protand be seen as a more respon-
sible company, yet it also con-
tributes to a healthier world.
Whichever motivation the ini-
tiatives stem from I feel inspired
by the words of his holiness the
Dalai Lama. Rather give withan un-clean heart, than not give
at all.
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42 THE LANDSCAPE
Non-Governmental Organizations
In a denition from 1945 Non-Governmental Organizations (orNGOs) are dened as organizations that are not controlled by gov-
ernments; organizations that exist to defend the rights of the civil
society but are independent from the state. NGOs also differentiate
from private companies as they do not pursue a prot.
There are many forms of NGOs and many alternative terms to
cover it. Independent sector, volunteer sector, civil society, grass-
roots organizations, transnational social movement organiza-tions, private voluntary organizations, self-help organizations, and
non-state actors. In World Bank typology NGOs are categorized
as either operational or advocacy NGOs. The primary purpose of
an operational NGO is the design and implementation of develop-
ment-related projects whereas advocacy NGOs defend or promote
a specic cause.
Many international NGOs have a consultative status with United
Nations agencies relevant to their area of work. As an example, the
Third World Network has a consultative status with the UN Confer-
ence on Trade and Development.
Large NGOs may have annual budgets in the hundreds of millions
or billions of dollars. Funding such large budgets demands signi-
cant fundraising efforts on the part of most NGOs. Major sourcesof NGO funding include membership dues, the sale of goods and
services, grants from international institutions or national govern-
ments, and private donations. Several EU-grants provide funds ac-
cessible to NGOs.
Some organizations resembling NGOs are starting to put more
emphasis on generating their own prot fuelled by a need to free
themselves from the dependency of donations. Many social enter-prises surfacing in China are examples of this due to the tight re-
strictions towards donations that exist in China.
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43
Springboard Innovation22Springboard Innovation emphasizes the aspect of prot by
calling themselves a social prot organization.Springboard Innovation is passionately enabling youth and
adults to solve local challenges with sustainable, innovative
solutions. They believe that the key to increased capacity is
education and engagement with the community and their ed-
ucational material and training programs are customized to t
any learner or context. One example is a program called Lo-
cal Agenda that helps people create positive and sustain-
able change in their own communities. Their approach is
to share knowledge on problem identication, problem solv-
ing, leadership, and planning with community members who
are passionate about changing the future but lack the skills
Springboard can provide.
The organization looks at innovation as a process that canbe learned and put into practice to create lasting change, and
Local Agenda is just one great example of that. They have a
very humble approach towards learning and believe that with
a little education on innovation you can, as a community mem-
ber, create the sustainable change YOU want!
THE LANDSCAPE
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44 THE LANDSCAPE
Baisikeli*Bikes for a Better Future the Work of a Social Entrepreneur.
The idea of Baisikeli is to ship used bicycles to Africa where they
are repaired or rebuilt and sold and where the prot forms the
foundation for the creation of a sustainable bicycle industry in Af-rica. - A commodity that has no value in one place may have
great value in another- The idea comes from a need for quality bi-
cycles in Tanzania where most bicycles are of mediocre standard
and are sold at an extremely high price. While there is a high de-
mand for used bicycles in Africa 400,000 bikes are scraped an-
nually in Denmark. Many of these can be used in Africa.
We strive to make bicycles accessible in the poorest areas ofthe world where the bicycle can be a means out of poverty. We
have designed bicycles that meet the needs of the poorest so
that we can:
Increase the income of farmers by more than 100%
Create healthcare accessibility
Increase the attendance to primary schools
All of the above are considered key factors in reducing extreme
poverty and meeting the Millennium Development Goals.
My denition of social innovation is to activate unexploited re-
sources. To take something that has no value at one place, acti-
vate it, and thereby impart value into it.
Henrik Smedegaard Mortensen, founder of Baisikeli
www.baisikeli.dk
*Baisikeli means Bicycle in Swahili
Social Entrepreneurship
A social entrepreneur works to address social needs and problemsin innovative ways by viewing challenges in society as a platform
for idea generation. She differentiates herself from a conventional
entrepreneur by focusing on the nancial aspects as a means to
an end rather than an end in itself. She measures the success of
her endeavour on its positive impact on society as a whole. It is a
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45THE LANDSCAPE
common misunderstanding that prot is unimportant for a socialentrepreneur but in fact the ability to self-sustain by generating prof-
it often determines the viability of the ideas or projects of social en-
trepreneurs. By breaking with established structures, logic or con-
victions, they pave the way for new practices and social innovations
that benet both the economy as well as people (See page 21).23
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46 THE LANDSCAPE
The SpecialistsIn 2008, a Danish IT company called The Specialists26 re-
ceived the international IT award for most unusual entrepre-
neurship and it is a good example of an initiative with a triple
bottom line (people, planet, and prot).
The Specialists are known for primarily employing people
with autistic behaviour to work with quality checking softwarethus acknowledging that they are some of the best in the eld.
In a simple and beautiful way, the Specialists tell the good story
of how IT businesses can be a constructive engine to change
the world and improve peoples lives. Not only do the people
employed as a result of this initiative benet but so does the
computer industry itself through the employees highly devel-
oped skills within repetitive quality control.
Usually the IT award goes to millionaires who have been in
the industry for a long time but for the rst time, thanks to the
Specialists, a social company has received this award. This is
something that creates an echo among autistic people, rela-
tives, and therapists in the entire world as a new world in which
autistic people are actually the best within their eld is openingup in front of them.
Among young people with autism this initiative gives new
hope of entering the job market.
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47THE LANDSCAPE
Social Intrapreneurship
Social intrapreneurs, also known as corporate changemakers, rep-resent many of the same values as social entrepreneurs but func-
tion within corporations and companies. Social intrapreneurship is
becoming increasingly common and has the potential of being a
driving force within corporations or companies towards more sus-
tainable business.
The greatest agents for sustainable change are unlikely to be [so-cial entrepreneurs], interesting though they are They are much
more likely to be the entirely reasonable people, often working for
large companies, who see ways to create better products or reach
new markets, and have the resources to do so.24
The social intrapreneur acts behind the scenes of large corpora-
tions, developing tools and methods that push businesses in a so-
cially responsible direction. Provided with economic and adminis-
trative support from the company itself, he/she is allowed to focus
on the entrepreneurial idea alone. Often the challenges of social in-
trapreneurs lie within the organizations, e.g. through internal resist-
ance to change.25
In an interview, Win Sakdinan of Proctor & Gamble compared cor-
porations to elephants, as they take time to change directions, but
when they do, they bring lots of weight or positive leverage.
Social intrapreneurs may represent strong drivers of positive
change. They function from within already nancially strong entities
with a wide reach and can benet from the knowledge and skills al-ready present within the organization.
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THE LANDSCAPE48
Before Moving On
Different readers may nd themselves connecting only to some ofthe areas above. However, understanding the landscape will hope-
fully present a glimpse into the endless possibilities you are faced
with when looking for ways to engage in the creation of socially in-
novative solutions.
Where common sense normally refers to logical thinking you could
also see it as the sense made up of a collective mind. The gather-ing of different competencies, mindsets, and knowledge. Important
change does not have to be difcult and it can often come simply by
creating the arena for such common sense to be played out.
A socially innovative initiative can also consist of setting up a con-
nection between two parties that can benet from one another but
who were unaware of each others existence. Creating such a con-
nection can be as easy as a few conversations or phone calls and
setting up the right connection can mean a difference to a lot of
people.
For those of you who wish to make the trip, dont hesitate to bring
people together.
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THE LANDSCAPE 49
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Do what you love
Love what you do
Famous Travellers
Famous Travellers
What does it take to do good while doing well?
We would like to highlight some of the successful doers that have al-
ready travelled the path to social innovation. Read about where they
came from, what they brought with them, and what they strived to-
wards in their endeavours.
Innovations like theirs have gone beyond their creators and rev-
olutionized the world we live in. They stand as a testament to thepower of open eyes, minds, and hearts, and the willingness to de-
fy the risk of failure. In all of the examples shown, the people behind
went forward because of a belief in the need for their idea. They in-
spired others to join them in their efforts (individuals, organizations,
and networks) and by combining skills they reached the peaks of
their ambition.27
Other people travelling the world of social innovation are the ex-
perts, the researchers, the students, educators, and explorers who
tell the story of this age-old phenomenon. They are change-makers
that shed light on creating social change through passion, dedica-
tion, and alternative channels in our societies.
Let yourself be inspired. What would it take for you to become a
social innovator?
If you already feel like getting started, sneak a peak at the tem-
plate starting with me on page 72.
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51FAMOUS TRAVELLERS
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FAMOUS TRAVELLERS52
Who, where, when? Their Innovative
Solution
The Need
Robert Owen
Wales,
United Kingdom
Early 1800s
www.robert-owen.mid-
wales.com
He is considered one
of the founding fathers
of the cooperative
movement.
He was upset with the
living conditions in his
community, especial-
ly the way that the mill
workers were beingtreated and he was
determined to make
a change alleviating
poverty through so-
cialism.
Florence NightengaleEurope
Mid 1800s
www.orence-nightin-
gale.co.uk
She was a pioneerof modern nursing
through compassion,
commitment to pa-
tient care, and diligent
and thoughtful hospi-
tal administration.
Through a rebellion to-wards her family and
status, she chose to
become a nurse which
was considered a job
for the poor. Her work
during the Crimean
War made her ght tobetter the standards
of hygiene as many
soldiers died from in-
fections.
Saul David Alinsky
Chicago, USA
The 1930s
http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Saul_Alinsky
He was a main g-
ure of community or-
ganizing. He led new
ways to organize the
poor and powerless
and created a back-
yard revolution in cities
across America.
As a slum kid raised in
Chicago he decided to
make a change in his
own backyard, begin-
ning locally. Through
creating neighbour-
hood communities, he
realized that the citi-
zens could stand upfor themselves and
gain better living con-
ditions.
Table of doers
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FAMOUS TRAVELLERS 53
Who, where, when? Their Innovative
Solution
The Need
Wangari Maathai
Kenya
Since 1970s
www.greenbeltmove-
ment.org
She is an environmen-
tal and political ac-
tivist. She founded
the Green Belt Move-
ment which has nowplanted over 40 million
trees across Kenya to
prevent soil erosion,
especially focusing on
mobilizing women in
poverty.
As the daughter of
farmers in the high-
lands of Mount Kenya
she became inspired
by her surroundings touse her passion for the
environment and fe-
male empowerment.
Ray Anderson
Texas, USA
Since 1994
www.interfaceor.com
He is the founder and
chairman of Interface
Inc. (oor manufactur-
er). He is committed
to reducing and later
eliminating petroleum
from the companysmanufacturing proc-
esses. The compa-
ny uses waste prod-
ucts to produce oor
tiles. Furthermore,
they strive for 0-nega-
tive environmental im-
pact in 2020.
When he read a book
by Paul Hawken en-
titled The Ecology of
Commerce which ar-
gues that the industri-
al system is destroy-
ing the planet, he wasimmediately moved to
make a drastic change
in the way his compa-
ny impacted the envi-
ronment.
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FAMOUS TRAVELLERS54
Who, where, when? Their Innovative
Solution
The Need
Cecilia Zanotti
Brazil
Since 2003
www.projetobagagem.
org
Co-founded an
NGO called Projeto
Bagagem which is
a community based
eco-friendly tourismnetwork.
Projecto Bagagem
gives tourists an in-
sight into local Brazil-
ian communities and
their traditions. Thecommunities gain
funds to maintain their
culture and raise their
living standards.
Peggy Liu
ChinaSince 2007
www.juccce.com
She founded JUCC-
CE (Joint US-ChinaCooperation on Clean
Energy). A Non-prot
organization aimed at
helping China acceler-
ate 30 years of world
experience and devel-
opment into 10 years.
The world is at war
with energy and Chinais our common battle-
eld. China is becom-
ing the worlds larg-
est consumer of fossil
fuels. The impact on
the environment will
be dramatic if Chinaevolves as the west-
ern countries have.
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FAMOUS TRAVELLERS 55
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56 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS
Muhammad Yunus
Founder of Grameen Bank and author ofBanker to the Poor: Mi-cro-lending and the Battle Against World Poverty"
This is the story of Bangladesh's Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace
Prize winner and the founder of Grameen Bank. Yunus created a
new category of banking by granting millions of small loans to poor
people with no collateral thus helping to establish the microcredit
movement across the developing world.After studying economics in the United States, Muhammad Yu-
nus went home to Bangladesh to help the rehabilitation after the lib-
eration of the country.
A shift occurred at a point when he did not feel that the under-
standing and knowledge of economics from the university course
he was teaching was applicable to Bangladesh, which at the time
was rated as the poorest country in the world. Yunus did not feel he
was making a difference.
"The least I as a human being can do is to help just one single per-
son, every single day"28
Outside the university campus in Jobra, Muhammad Yunus discov-ered that very small loans could make a disproportionate difference
to a poor person. Jobra women who made bamboo furniture had to
take out unmanageable loans for buying bamboo to pay their prof-
its to the moneylenders. The rst loan Yunus gave out (USD 27.00
from his own pocket) was given to 42 women in the village. The
women in turn made a net prot of USD 0.02 each on the loan.
While traditional banks were not interested in making tiny loans atreasonable interest rates to the poor due to high repayment risks,
Yunus believed that given the chance the poor would repay the bor-
rowed money and hence microcredit could be a viable business
model. This idea proved to be a good one. Grameen Bank was born
and has since its start in 1976 provided 4.7 billion USD to 4.4 million
families in Bangladesh. (Equivalent to each family getting $1000.
Paying back $10 at an interest rate at 1%)Muhammad Yunus' actions and successes with Grameen Bank
have since inspired others to do the same and the economic tool of
micro nancing has proven to be one of the strongest in the battle
against poverty around the World.
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57FAMOUS TRAVELLERS
"Credit should be accepted as a human right29
According to Muhammad Yunus the reason why micronance is
so powerful is the ownership and empowerment created when you
see possibilities and show trust to even the poorest of the world. He
believes that everyone rich and poor has the same capabilities and
should have the same possibilities for creating a living on their own.
Muhammad Yunus is a great example of a man that made it far bybelieving and by following up on his ideas and dreams. He is a do'er
and he dares to do.
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58
VALENCIA826
FAMOUS TRAVELLERS
Dave Eggers
Founder of 826 Valencia
"Many writers, having written a rst best-seller, might see it as a nice
way to start a career.
He started a movement instead."30
TIME Magazine
As a founder of the San Francisco-based tutoring centre 826 Va-
lencia, Dave Eggers has brought together community members to
help young people excel in their writing and believe in themselves in
a way they never had before.
Dave is a writer, editor, publisher and an inspiring social innovator
of our time. Here is someone who dropped a pebble in the ocean
and created a tidal wave.Dave is a spring chicken (born in 1970) but already has a wealth
of experience under his belt. He has written a memoir, multiple nov-
els and pieces of non-ction as well as founded an independent
publishing company and given birth to a brilliant tutoring centre
concept (which he describes as a "weird happy accident"we will
explain that later). In 2005 he was named one of Time Magazine's
"World's 100 Most Inuential People". He has been given $250,000by the Heinz Foundations and most recently he was the recipient of
TEDPrize 2008.
But the reason we highlight Dave Eggers in this guide is not be-
cause of his long list of titles, awards, and accomplishments. We
share his story with you because it is about taking action on a street
level and making a beautiful difference in the world by embodying
your true passion in life.Back in 2000, Dave was living in New York. He was writing his rst
book"A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius"31. It was at this
time that a social need became very apparent to him. It was not until
he moved back to San Francisco and gathered together old friends
and new friends that his idea on how to face this need took ight.
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59FAMOUS TRAVELLERS
The ChallengeMany students at city schools are not able to keep up with their
classes.
The Inuences
English is not spoken as a rst language in many households, some
children have learning disabilities, the schools are understaffed and
under-funded, the teachers are overworked and have little time ontheir hands and no opportunity to spend one-on-one time with their
students.
Dave's Inspiration
His mom was a teacher, his sister became a teacher, and he had
many friends who were teachers. He heard a lot about the strug-
gles they were dealing with and knew rst hand that they were hard-
working and inspiring people.
The Thought Paving the Way to the Solution
Teachers can't give the students the attention they need. But writ-
ers (like Dave and his friends) work exible hours and often have lit-
tle to do during the day. They have the time that the teachers lack.
The Innovative Solution
826 Valencia- A tutoring lab, a pirate supply store (yes, pirate, no
spelling errors here, ed.) and a publishing company, all in one - A
place where writers, publishers and students can work together un-
der the same roof.
Then and Now
At rst 826 Valencia had 12 volunteers. Today the organization calls
upon more than 1400 volunteers to tutor at the centre and in class-
rooms of local schools.
In the beginning, the pirate supply store in the front of the building
was created simply because the location was zoned for retail, so by
law they had to sell something. However, it turned out that the eyepatches, peg legs etc. have been selling and the prots now pay the
rent for 826 Valencia location.
Some of the students involved with what has now become Na-
tional 826 have had their work published. In addition to the original
San Francisco centre, the organization now has chapters in Brook-
lyn, Ann Arbor, Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston and Chicago.
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FAMOUS TRAVELLERS60
Dave is a man of words but he is also a man of action. It is becauseof this combination that his initiative has been so widely successful.
The tutoring project has shed light on many lives but because the
story is being told, many other similar projects are springing up as a
result of it. With community support a website has now been creat-
ed for this purpose of sharing stories and inspiring others. Check it
out and join the vision!32
"The schools need you. The teachers need you. The students and
parents need you. They need your actual person, your physical per-
sonhood and your open minds and open ears and boundless com-
passion sitting next to them, listening and nodding and asking ques-
tions for hours at a time. Some of these kids just don't plain know
how good they are, how smart and how much they have to say. You
can tell them. You can shine that light on them one human interac-
tion at a time. So we hope you'll join us."33
Dave Eggers
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FAMOUS TRAVELLERS 61
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FAMOUS TRAVELLERS62
Marie So and Carol Chyau34
Founders of Shokay
Marie So and Carol Chyau are two examples of social innovators,who
started a company called Shokay, in China. Marie was born in Hong
Kong and Carol in Taiwan. They both hold a number of degrees and
have worked in both the private and public sectors (UN).
The company was born while they attended Harvard Universi-
ty. In the process of studying International Development, Marie andCarol brainstormed on ways to utilize their education and talents to
build businesses that could impact poor regions. Both of them hav-
ing spent most of their lives in Asia the natural choice was China, a
country with increasingly severe income disparity where many in-
land regions suffer from poverty and lack of access to markets.
During their winter break, Carol and Marie travelled to Western re-
gions of China to investigate the needs and resources of the people
living there and look for ways to help.
They found an abundant resource of yaks and a NGO partner
China Exploration and Research Society.
This is what they did:
Shokay is a social enterprise started with one cause; "To identify theright opportunities that could impact impoverished regions in Chi-
na" The opportunity presented itself in a thick coat of hair, the fur
of the massive Tibetan Yak, which is an outstanding resource for
fabrics and yarn that equals the quality of cashmere and mohair.
Now, Shokay, the Tibetan word for Yak, sells luxury bre collected in
the inlands by local nomadic herders and processed by a number of
hand knitters near Shanghai.The philosophy of Shokay is to acknowledge the producing com-
munities by reinvesting parts of the prot in the local community. As
the company grows, the funds that they reinvest grow equally. The
funds ensure the development of the communities. By reinvesting
in the communities Shokay not only ensures a sustainable living for
the herders but also creates a platform that enables the communi-
ties to break free from poverty.The second step in the supply chain of Shokay is the knitting of
the products which is based on an island close to Shanghai. The fe-
male knitters are all local and work in near proximity of their homes.
To increase the empowerment of the people in the remote re-
gions of West China, Shokay works to promote wool from the Yak
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FAMOUS TRAVELLERS 63
as a luxury fabric on the international scene to quality stamp andbrand the material, thereby increasing market value and securing
the herders an even better price.
The more Shokay grows the more the conditions of the nancially
disadvantaged communities improve.
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Jimmy Donal "Jimbo" WalesFounder of Wikipedia
We have decided to highlight Jimmy Wales as one of the biggest
socially innovative Internet entrepreneurs who has made a huge im-
pact in the eld of knowledge sharing.
Jimmy Wales is the co-founder and brain behind Wikipedia. Wiki-
pedia was created in 2001 and is a free, open-content encyclope-
dia. It is now the largest encyclopedia in the world.His inuence has helped popularize a trend in web development,
also called Web 2.0. His aim is to facilitate creativity, collaboration,
and sharing among users. Time Magazine named him one of the
world's most inuential people in 2006 because of his massive glo-
bal impact.
Jimmy Wales was born August 7, 1966 in America. He grew up in
Huntsville, Alabama, and he received his early education from a small pri-
vate school run by his mother and grandmother. Education was one of the
key values in his upbringing because of the teacher aspect within the fami-
ly. In an interview he has formulated it this way:
"Education was always a passion in my householdyou know, the
traditional approach to knowledge and learning and establishingthat as a base for a good life"35.
Jimmy has always had a great interest in nance and he has a
Bachelor's Degree in nance from Auburn University. Furthermore,
he has a PhD in a nance program at Alabama University.
You may ask yourself, Why is he a social innovator? One of his fa-
mous punch lines is:
"Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given
free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That's what we're
doing!"
The perspective - to share and educate everyone for free - is in-
novative in itself. The free licensing of Wikipedia content means thatit is free to copy, free to modify, free to redistribute, and free to redis-
tribute in modied forms, with attribution links. People from all over
the world are using this source because Wikipedia is a platform for
information and collaboration between people. It is exible, adopta-
ble and easy to access - it is technology based social innovation.
FAMOUS TRAVELLERS64
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FAMOUS TRAVELLERS 65
The name Wikipedia is a combination ofwiki and encyclo-
pedia. Wiki is a term that describes an online tool for collabo-
rative authoring. Software programmer Ward Cunningham was
the rst to use this term which he got from Hawaiian wiki-wiki,
which means quick-quick.
Encyclopedia derives from the Latin word enkuklopaideia
and it means all-around education.
When Wikipedia was created in 2001 all of its technology and
software elements had been around since 1995. Its innovation was
entirely social - free licensing of content, neutral point of view, and
total openness to participants, especially new ones. As a result the
core engine of Wikipedia is "a community of thoughtful users, a few
hundred volunteers who know each other and work to guarantee
the quality and integrity of the work."
Wikipedia is a growing organism and will continue to accelerate
its growth. It is one of the top 20 websites with 5 billion page views
monthly. And through this Jimmy Wales has made himself a legend
of our time.
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FAMOUS TRAVELLERS66
Natalie Killassy
Founder of Stitch Wise
"Our business is our vision at work!"36
Real change occurs when the mechanisms in society are shifted
to support a need that is yet unmet. Natalie Killassy of South Africa
used the channel of business to make a difference in her local com-
munity. Natalie grew up in a mining town. In this African nation, themining industry has been the main driving force behind the develop-
ment of the economy. Due to poor working conditions many injuries
and deaths occur each year.
Inspired by her environment, the reality she witnessed every
day, Natalie decided to do some research in the mines in order to
learn rst hand about the safety conditions of the miners. What she
discovered led her to start up the social enterprise Stitch Wise in
1997.
This innovative business employs paraplegics injured in the
mines to make products that make working in the mines much saf-
er. In making this connection, Stitch Wise is having a win-win-win
impact.
"What most businesses don't realize is that you just need to make
a few changes to be able to employ disabled people, and through
that process you can harness a huge pool of skills and opportuni-
ties for your business."37
Although her products are innovative, it is Natalie's holistic ap-
proach to entrepreneurship that is the real gem of her story. Of her128 employees, 50% are "differently abled". Stitch Wise holds train-
ing and empowerment programs (in the areas of personal develop-
ment, adult education, health education, and computer skills devel-
opment) and contributes greatly to the advancement of its nation's
economy.
Surely, Natalie came across challenges along the way but her
process was somewhat simple: She saw a need. She felt her role.She acted.
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FAMOUS TRAVELLERS 67
My integrity is nonnegotiable,
My pride and enthusiasm unsurpassed
Our differences are celebrated,
I work at Stich Wise.
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Movement
Movement
The stories we have highlighted are people we have met on ourpath or been inspired by in our own work. They show how individ-
uals can inuence their surroundings by seeing their role in solv-
ing the social needs affecting their communities. What is perhaps
even more interesting is to see these cases in a broader context.
All over the world people are working to combat issues such as cli-
mate change, population growth, lack of resources, and violations
of human rights.Due to an increase in transnational companies and internet com-
munication our world seems so much smaller these days. For some
this is a negative phenomenon, however, there are many possibili-
ties that come as a result of this trend.
What is happening is that more and more people are waking up
to the fact that as humans on this planet our lives are not isolat-
ed. Our actions and inactions affect one another. Whether it is our
trade policies or our innovative projects everything is connected.
For some it takes a shorter time to come to this understanding than
for others.
What is exciting is to see when people come together to create
something greater than themselves in order to have a positive im-
pact in the world. This is largely happening with the support of valu-able connections created in networks and communities of practice.
The Berkana Institute38, founded by the author and consultant
Margaret Wheatley, is an organization working with fostering these
relationships around the world.
They learn how local social innovation can be taken to scale and
provide solutions to many of the worlds most intractable issuessuch as community health, ecological sustainability and econom-
ic self-reliance. The Exchange connects leadership learning centres
around the globe in such places as Brazil, Canada, India, Mexico,
Pakistan, South Africa, the United States and Zimbabwe39
Global learning networks like Berkana and Pioneers of Change40
are supporting entrepreneurs around the world, however, there areother channels at work fostering social innovation. Using education
as a tool for creating the world we want to live in we can have an in-
credible impact.
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MOVEMENT 69
The way in which educational programs are structured greatly in-uences which mindsets are present in a society. Recent decades
have seen a rise in social entrepreneurial programs, highlighting the
need for people to go into the world of business with not only the
goal of making a prot but with larger visions including people and
the planet.
An example of these educational programs is the KaosPilots.
This is a school focusing on enabling the students to act in an everchanging world through utilizing learning in real world projects and
personal leadership etc.
Other programs include the Stanford Graduate School of Busi-
ness Center for Social Innovation41 where they aim to strengthen
the capacity of individuals and organizations to develop innovative
solutions to social problems, as well as the Youth Social Enterprise
Initiative (YSEI)42; a social venture program based in Thailand for
emerging young social entrepreneurs in developing countries.
As time passes and the world evolves many new efforts and in-
itiatives conrm the thought that as individuals we can impact the
world but we can create so much more when we work together with
a common vision.
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68 MOVEMENT
Shedding light on social innovation
Tania Ellis
De Nye Pionerer
www.taniaellis.dk
Denmark
SIX: Social Innovation Exchange
www.socialinnovationexchange.org
Center for Social Innovation
Toronto, Canada
www.socialinnovation.ca
Young Foundation
Center for Social Innovation
London, United Kingdomwww.youngfoundation.org.uk
ESADE
Ramon Llull University Institute for Social Innovation
Barcelona, Spainwww.esade.edu/research/socialinnovation/about
United Nations
Global Compact
www.unglobalcompact.org
World Business Council
for Sustainable Development
www.wbcsd.org
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71MOVEMENT
The Schwab Foundation for
Social Entrepreneurship
www.schwabfoundation.org
global:ideas:bank
www.globalideasbank.org
NESTA
National Endowment for Science
Technology and the Arts
www.nesta.org.uk
The KaosPilots International
www.kaospilots.dk
Stanford Center for Social Innovation at
Stanford University Graduate School of Business
www.gsb.stanford.edu/csi
The Skoll Foundation
www.skollfoundation.org
If you want to take action, check out the SociaI Innovation in
Action chapter on page 70.
Bigger Thinking
www.biggerthinking.com
CSR Wire
The Corporate Social Responsibility Newswire
www.csrwire.com
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SI in action
Social Innovation in Action
You are approaching your destination. Your bags are packed andyou have prepared yourself for an adventurous journey into the eld
of social innovation.
In reading this rst part of the travel guide, you have experienced
many perspectives that have probably inspired you to think about
what kind of actions you could take to create social innovation in
your community. We will now present some tools to be utilized to
gain clarity, provide inspiration, and raise questions that will helpyou in your pursuit of this goal. This will be done in a playful manner.
Although the great social innovators have surely overcome incred-
ible challenges, they have also been passionate about their work
and have experienced great joy along the way. Pioneering in the
eld of social innovation is meaningful and therefore quite exciting.
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SI IN ACTION 73
The structure of this chapter will be formed around a few suggest-ed areas to explore when kicking off a socially innovative project. It
is important to emphasize that the tools provided are not to be used
in any particular order. It is up to you to follow your motivation and
need and work with what you feel for at the given moment. Remem-
ber, use them while taking action and not as an excuse to post-
pone it!
In each section, a template will be provided to visualize a certainaspect of your project. Each template will be accompanied with in-
structions on how it can be used as well as tips to support you in
your work. As a general rule these tools and tips are meant as sug-
gestions and can be altered or built upon as needed.
The visual tools are printed in a small format in this book.
You can scale them up by drawing them yourself on a piece
of paper or you can download larger versions for printing
from our website:
www.socialinnovation.biz
Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes Art is knowing
which ones to keep43
Scott Adams
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74 SI IN ACTION
Starting With Me
Look at what you do and in which areas you have experience andtalent and ask: How can society benet from my skills? You do not
have to reinvent the wheel to create social innovation and apply-
ing your skills and knowledge in new ways can be the decisive rst
step.
Use the templates in the order that comes naturally to you. Start
with what you have and build on it from there. Dont force it. Find out
what you are passionate about and let it ow naturally. Passion isthe strongest driver for action.
Popular TV-chef Jamie Oliver is a good example of this; he went
from cooking delicious food in restaurants to bringing his business
into the school kitchens of Britain, revolutionizing the traditional
meal plans and giving c
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